


Two More Minutes

by Merokeru



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: I did not make any ethnicity headcanons, I dont know how to write Im sorry, M/M, alcohol comes into play later, band au, fluff too, go easy on me i am a violinist myself but havent played in years, lance plays the guitar, pidge is FEMALE, shiro plays the drums, so i might not add a whole lot of music talk but itll be there, they all have their original last names, this is also my first fanfic PLEASE BE NICE
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-27 14:36:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7622455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merokeru/pseuds/Merokeru
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Orphan Keith teaches himself how to play the violin from a young age and plays on the streets/in restaurants for money. Lance and Shiro invite him to join their band.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two More Minutes

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually the first fanfic I've ever written in my life, so don't expect it to be fantastic but I figured we needed more AU's for these gays. I am a previous violinist, but sadly haven't touched it in years, so my knowledge is kind of fuzzy. I've also played the guitar, but never as much as the violin.  
> Also, just imagine Keith playing the violin????? Just? Imagine that holy wow.  
>   
> If you don't know how beautiful and soft the violin is, and how a talented person can very much rock out on it, see Lindsey Stirling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf6LD2B_kDQ  
> and Taylor Davis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzQahpxucKk as they were a big part of my inspiration!!  
> 

**Age: 8**  
For as long as he could remember, Keith Kogane didn't have a family. Years of his life were spent in an orphanage, and he had a lot of trouble developing social skills. He kept to himself, barely talking to the other children or the adults. He wondered constantly why his parents would give him up, or what even happened to them. Rummaging around the attic, where he would usually spend his time away from everyone, he found a case to what looked like a very small guitar. He'd seen guitars on TV, but never one this small. Unhooking the 2 clasps on the side, he opened it and gave it a weird look. Guitars didn't include sticks with hair on them.

Upon learning that what he found was a violin, Keith had the urge to play it. Hours upon hours each day he would spend tuning the instrument, tightening and untightening the bow hair, then gliding it across the strings. The first time he did this, it was like a cat clawing at glass. He was then told that the bow needed rosin, to make the sound cleaner. Keith was wrong to wear black clothes when the rosin covered him in white dust.

 **Age: 13**  
By 13, Keith was already past the amateur stage of a violinist. He could hear a melody and simply play it by ear. He'd play for the other kids at the orphanage, and the adults loved that he was finally interacting in some way. He eventually got into watching movies by himself, and with others. Those included Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Star Trek, he _really_ enjoyed watching Power Rangers, the red one was always his favorite.

 **Age: 17**  
After deciding he didn't really like anyone at the orphanage, he spent his days escaping to the streets, with nothing but his violin. He picked 3 different street corners that he'd go to each day, playing songs by memory, and by heart. To grab peoples attention, he would play popular themes from Star Wars, and Harry Potter. Sometimes he even threw in the Pokemon opening. By the end of the day, his violin case was full of coins and cash. Keith would return to the orphanage to sleep and practice his songs, but all he ever did was play.

 **Age: 21**  
Who stays in an orphanage at this age? With the money he kept making from playing over the years, he had saved enough to afford an apartment. It was small, and had a pretty nice view of the city. He wondered if the people living above and below him got annoyed at him playing violin at all hours of the day. To occupy himself when he wasn't playing, he decided to get cable since his apartment included an old TV that the person before didn't want to take. Keith found game shows very entertaining. When he got a phone, his contacts list was empty. He got no messages whatsoever, and he decided that was fine. He filled his phone with games and laid around playing them for hours. He didn't bother keeping up with the local news, or social media.

 **November**  
It was cold, and Keith knew that he couldn't play out on the streets during the Winter months. It was too much for his hands, they would cramp and his fingers would go numb, so he wouldn't be able to play. He figured out the solution to this years ago, he would approach restaurants and play live music there, and the fancier ones would pay him a lot. That was how he survived the cold.  
One day, however, he was packing up after playing for a few hours, to the point where his hands couldn't stand it anymore. He quickly pulled on his gloves and started walking to the nearest restaurant.

" _Hey, you! With the violin!!_ "  
Suddenly, someone was rushing across the busy street towards him, almost getting hit by a car and at least 2 people honked at him. From the other side of the street, another man sighed and waited to cross.

"Dude! You're that guy that plays here all the time! Me and my friend have been watching you for like, months. Wanna join a band??"

The question startled him, and he awkwardly looked around, wondering if this tan kid was actually talking to him or not.

"Hello?? Anyone home in there?" The taller male knocked on Keith's head, making him flinch and his immediate reaction was to grip the guys wrist and tear it away. Before he had the time to ask what the hell he was doing, the seemingly older one appeared behind him. He was very muscular, but had a gentle looking face. His head was shaved, save for a white patch at the front that hung above his eyes. One of his arms...was a metal prosthetic.

"What my friend means to say is, we've been watching you for a while, and we think you're extremely talented. And we'd like to politely ask you to consider joining a small band like us. A third member would really help, and it's very original for a band to have a violinist. If you say no, we understand, but would you at least practice with us once? We have a nice setup back at Lance's apartment here."  
"I'm Lance." The shorter one waved. "That's Shiro, he plays drums and I'm on the guitar. If you join, we can be just like Yellowcard!!"

Keith blinked again, extremely dumbfounded. Two strangers just asked him to join a band. One of them almost died just running over to him. What was he supposed to say to that???

"This is really nice and all, but a violin isn't meant for a band, it's meant for an orchestra. I can't be in a band."

The tan one stared him straight in the eye. "Not with that attitude."

Somehow, _somehow_ , the two strangers managed to bring Keith back to Lance's apartment. Maybe it was because Shiro was polite about it, he didn't know. But the whole way there, all Lance did was piss him off. He asked stupid questions nonstop.

"So, can I touch your violin? Where did you get it? Who taught you? You know, if you join this band, you're gonna be my second rival with the ladies, the first being Shiro. Can I touch the violin stick??"

"No, I found it, I taught myself, I don't care, and it's called a bow. It's made of wood and horse hair. Don't touch the hair."

"You're just like Shiro!! He never lets me touch his drumset!"

Shiro turned to look down at him, "Because you broke my drumsticks. I have reasons not to let you touch any of my stuff."

"Bet you'd let Keith touch it."

"It's not up for discussion. No touching the drums. Besides, he'd probably treat my equipment better than you did."

Keith shut out their talking for the rest of the walk, which turned out to be pretty long. They must've walked a while just to watch him play. The thought made him feel weird inside.

"Welcome to mi casa!" Lance shouted as soon as he unlocked the door, immediately taking his jacket off and flopping on the couch. "Make yourself at home."

The apartment was small, just like Keith's, but had 3 bedrooms it seemed. He guessed that Shiro was his roommate. There weren't many places to sit but the one couch, so it was set up like a studio.

"What does mi casa mean?" He muttered to Shiro, who laughed.

"It means my house in Spanish."

"He's Spanish?"

" _Cuban_."

Shiro also added that he took French in high school, but doesn't really remember much of it. Meanwhile Lance took Keith on the "Grand Tour" of the apartment, which included: the living room they were already in, the kitchen was connected to it, and down the hall was the 3 bedrooms, and the bathroom. There was a small closet in the hallway as well. Lance's room, which may as well have been a literal garbage dump, had no floor. There were only clothes. Shiro's room however, was neat and organized, and smelled like air freshener. It was nice. The third bedroom was reserved for the band room. The walls were soundproofed, the drumset was up on a small wooden platform, and there were cords _everywhere_. An amplifier was in the corner, a cord hanging out of it. On the right of the platform, an electric Gibson guitar stood on a metal stand. On the other, an acoustic. A keyboard lurked in the corner, not even set up.

"Have you ever considered getting an electric violin? I've seen them, they're awesome." Lance's stupid voice made Keith sigh.

"No, I haven't. Ever considered cleaning your room?"

"GUESTS AREN'T SUPPOSED TO SPEAK THAT WAY! I ALLOWED YOU TO ENTER MY HUMBLE HOME." Lance looked personally offended, but eventually got over it. "Anyways, you won't be able to hear a regular violin over drums and my electric guitar. Unless..." He peered over to his acoustic, and flashed a grin. "Set up! We'll jam with my acoustic."

Keith didn't want to. But Lance looked excited, like he knew exactly what he was going to play. He sat on the wooden platform and looked up at him expectantly, guitar already in his lap with his left hand tuning it. Well, it's worth a shot. Keith sat down, laying his case on the ground before opening it and pulling his violin out. He pulled out the bow and tightened it, sliding the rosin up and down it a few times. He'd played just earlier today, but this violin was old and also fell out of tune easily. He twisted the knobs and plucked at the strings until the right sound came out. He hooked the shoulder pad onto the bottom of the instrument, then held it up to his chin, glancing over to Lance to signal he was ready.  
To Keith's surprise, the tune Lance started playing was familiar. He was strumming an acoustic version of Today by The Smashing Pumpkins. Keith couldn't help but play along in the background. He almost paused when Lance started singing, who'd expect him to have a great voice? Fuck him.

" _Today is the greatest, day I've ever known, can't live till tomorrow, tomorrow's much too long,_ "

Listening to Lance sing was pretty much like jumping into cold water. It sent chills down your spine, and you wonder why you jumped in the water in the first place. Then you got used to the temperature and swam. Keith knew the rhythm to this song, having heard the original dozens of times. He loved The Smashing Pumpkins, they were one of the first bands he listened to as a child.

" _I'll burn my eyes out, before I get out,_ " Keith slid the bow across a few times quickly, before dipping the sound into a lower note, slowly gliding it out. Lance seemed to like that a lot, his eyes were practically lit up with excitement and he couldn't stop smiling. Keith didn't even have to look at him to know he was smiling either, he could just hear it in his stupidly nice voice.

" _I wanted more,_ " The note slid back up to a higher sound for a moment. " _than life could ever grant me, bored by the chore, of saving face,_ " Then the chorus again, but the lyrics were a little different. " _Today is the greatest, day I've never known, can't wait for tomorrow, I might not have that long, I'll tear my heart out, before I get out_ " It was ups and downs of notes, sliding back and forth. After a minute, Keith closed his eyes and continued to play. His upper body swayed with the song, and fuck, he was really enjoying this. To this day, he thought the violin couldn't be with other instruments that weren't in an orchestra. The violin was solo, for him, he'd always played alone. This might've changed his thought process. Only a little.

After the second chorus, he started to play a solo, with Lance strumming quietly in the background. He put his own swing on it, playing without even realizing what notes he was hitting. He also didn't realize how long he was playing, because after a while, the background strumming stopped, and Keith opened his eyes to the sound of Lance clapping.

"Dude, that was awesome!! You're not as bad as I thought you'd be, playing with another person. If you join the band, I _might_ share the ladies with you!"

Keith wanted to tell him he had an amazing voice for someone that looked so stupid, but he held his tongue. Shiro had been leaning in the doorway, watching them the whole time with a content look on his face.

 **December**  
Almost every other night, unless they were busy, Keith would show up to Lance's apartment and they would have a jam session. Sometimes it would be Lance on the acoustic with Keith, and other times it would be Lance on the electric guitar with Shiro on the drums. Keith had to admit, they were pretty good. He didn't think they needed a third member.

But he still hadn't answered their initial question on if he would join the band or not.

It was one night after a loud session that Keith took a break and went to the bathroom. The other two were sweaty from playing so much. Lance didn't seem to mind it. Gross.

After walking back into the hallway, the light was on in the other room. Keith wasn't one to invade someone's privacy, but the room perked his curiosity. The door was cracked, and when he peered in, he almost let out a scream, had he not covered his mouth.

Shiro was changing, he was taking his goddamn clothes off.

Keith glanced around frantically, wondering if Lance saw him doing this. He'd peaked on another guy changing. Shiro probably heard the weird muffled yelp he made, because the door swung open and the man was looking down at him.

"Keith? What's wrong?"

Keith's heart probably stopped for a full 5 seconds, and he sputtered out words after giving him a horrified look.

"Light..door..half naked...I need to pee again-" He ran to the bathroom, and stayed in there till his anxiety calmed down.

Shiro was confused.

 **Christmas**  
Keith was woken up early by his phone ringing, which was odd. He'd given Lance and Shiro his number, which, giving it to Lance was a mistake. He never called, just spammed his messages with memes. Keith didn't understand them.

He groaned and sat up, grabbing his phone and squinting at it.

[ Text from Lance: HEY!! COME TO MY HOUSE LIKE RIGHT NOW! ITS A SURPRISE! MERRY CHRISTMAS! CHRISTMAS!!! ]

Keith had never seen a grown man this excited about Christmas before. Shiro was also texting him, apologizing for Lance's outburst that woke him up as well. Nonetheless, here he was, getting up and getting dressed to head over to Lance's house.

The moment the door was opened, a hat was slammed onto his head. He reached up and pulled it off to look at it, realizing it was one of those Santa hats everyone wore. Embarrassed, he put it back on. Lance was the one who threw it on him. Shiro sighed.

"Feliz navidad!" Lance was like a little kid, running around the Christmas tree, which was full of presents. Keith was informed that Lance had a very large family, and the gifts arrived today. Only a few of them were for Shiro. One of them, about the size of Keith's leg, had his name on it. His heart immediately sank. These 2 went out and bought him something, and he didn't even think to give them something. That's what you get from living alone for years and not socializing.

"Please tell me you didn't spend money on me."

"It was Shiro's idea!!" Lance said, buried in wrapping paper already. Definitely a kid in a candy store. Keith turned to Shiro.

"You bought me something? But I don't deserve it.." Shiro only smiled, and patted his shoulder.

"It's the season of giving. Go ahead and open it. Have you eaten today yet?" Shiro turned to the kitchen when Keith shook his head. Now this guy was making him breakfast? Keith felt his stomach turn. He glanced over at the present, stepping around Lance to grab it. He sat down on the floor and ripped it open, and gave it a long hard stare.

"You didn't. You didn't do this. No." Under the wrapping paper was a red electric violin, an expensive looking one at that. Keith felt like he was going to faint.

"Yeees we did! Do you like it..?" Lance took a break from opening his presents and looked at him. "It was the last red one."

They both looked at him so expectantly, and Keith felt his face get hot. "I love it, but I didn't get you guys anything, I didn't even think about it.."

"You already know what you can give us!" Lance scooted right up in front of him, a blue bow stuck on his head. He glanced at Keith, then at the violin, then back to Keith.

Keith blinked. "By....playing this?"

"Duh! But with us, in our band."

Shiro's voice stopped Keith from answering. "Both of you, come get your breakfast. Keith, I hope you don't mind eggs and toast."

To their dismay, Keith started bawling his eyes out.

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr: er3njaeger.tumblr.com  
> Acoustic version of "Today" inspired from "If I Stay": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eI0XAjXlEc  
> Picture of the electric violin: http://images1.cdn.guitarstreet.in/cdn/images/v0.5/r2519/pr/960/granda-evs-189.jpg  
> If you don't believe someone can improve this much, here's a persons progress video for just 2 years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaugRxMz7tw (imagine what you could do after 13 years)
> 
> I don't know how often I'll update this! Depends on if it gets popular I guess,, which I doubt but yknow  
> thanks for reading!!


End file.
